JLR has reportedly confirmed that its former design boss, Gerry McGovern, will leave the company at the end of March following months of speculative reports.
‘Escorted out of the office’
In December, Britain’s Autocar and Autocar India alleged McGovern to have been “escorted out of the office” without a reason given.
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Weeks later, parent company Tata issued a statement to motor1.com saying, “it is untrue we have terminated Gerry McGovern’s employment and we do not intend to further comment on speculative stories”.
Leaving
In a follow-up over the weekend, though, Autocar obtained an internal memo in which McGovern confirms his departure by the end of March to set up a consultancy firm.
“It has been a great privilege to work at JLR across two extraordinary decades and I would like to thank the Tata family in particular for the opportunities they gave me,” McGovern says.
“The dedication and passion of thousands of people across the business have made these brands what they are today, and I am enormously proud of what we have built together”.
Similarly, JLR boss PB Balaji, who succeeded Adrian Mardell at the end of November, was quoted in the memo as saying: “Gerry’s creative leadership, vision, drive and passion have left an indelible stamp on our brands.
“I would like to thank Gerry for the significant contribution he has made to JLR and wish him every success in his next creative chapter.”
Likely reason?
Responsible for the current Defender and various Range Rover models, McGovern had also been at the helm of the Jaguar Type 00 Concept that will become the production GT later this year.
The concept’s launch at the Miami Art Week became panned for being “pro-woke” as it showed no car and instead relied heavily on vivid colours and controversial models.
McGovern later defended the launch by saying nobody had “been sniffing the white stuff” during its conceptualising under headings such as “Copy Nothing”, “Delete Ordinary”, “Live Vivid” and “Create Exuberant”.
Last teased in February, the tri-motor GT will develop a reported 735kW and do 770km on a single charge.
It will thus be Jaguar’s first new model as the brand hasn’t produced a single vehicle since production of the F-Pace ended last year.
Profile
Before joining what was then known as Land Rover in 2004, McGovern had spells at Ford and British Leyland – the latter becoming Austin Rover and then Rover MG under BMW ownership.
Credits include the MG F and the original Land Rover Freelander before his move to Ford and then back to Land Rover to head up what would later become Jaguar Land Rover rebranded as JLR in 2023.
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